Sticking Valve

[Chris H]

Does anyone have a cure for an occasional sticking valve. It seems to get better as the engine warms up. I have not opened up the valve cover yet to have a look inside. I fear the worst, and hope for the best. I have been hitting it with an occasional squirt or two of Marvel Mystrey oil. It is the #3 cylinder, if that makes any difference.

Thanks

Chris

[V4F]

try putting a little marvel mystery oil in the crank case . ** NOTE : be careful as it thins the oil , but it should work ................. ive done it & solved my problem then i changed the oil ! .. steve

[pat in Santa Cruz]

recently I heard that spraying some Berrymans Carb cleaner on the valve stem can loosen them. Ethanol fuel leaves a gummy deposit that can cause sticking valves. Pull the spark plug, rotate the engine until the culprit is open and spray the cleaner using the plastic tube so it hits the stem.

other than that, using some Marvel Oil or Seafoam has been the common fix.

[[email protected]]

MMO can be the cure if it is just carbon causing the sticking. Put a couple of shot glasses of MMO in each tank of gas at fill up. Also add some of that MMO to the crankcase oil and drive it for awhile. Do an oil change. Hopefully it burned out the carbon and the valve(s) is no longer binding.... Today's modern "gas a hol" gas is not doing us any favors for good running low compression engines.

[RHD]

Have you tried a little oil in the gas tank? That MMO sounds ok. Need not be too much, about a cup full to a full tank. If the engine smokes a little, at least you know what is causing it. I have tried at times new engine oil in the tank. Just a trace of smoke at times, but a far better performance. What have you got to loose.

[ford1]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

4 oz. of mmo for each 10 gal of gas

[Chris H]

Thanks, guys. I have been adding MMO to the fuel, per the recomendations on the bottle, and have been running in the crank case, also per instructions. I will give the other ideas a try over the weekend and see what happens.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Chris,
Do you know exactly which valve it is? A friend had 2 severely stuck valves. His method: Manifold off, stuck valve wide open, through the port, warmed the stem with a propane torch to melt varnish and flushed around stem with WD-40 to wash the melted varnish down through the guide. Repeated this several times, oiled the stem, then did the other valve the same way. Didn't even have to take the side cover off!
Old brown varnish on the stems and in the guides is usually the CULPRIT! Bill W.

[Chris H]

Bill,
Yes, I think it is the #3 exhaust valve. I am going to take another crack at it this weekend with MMO and see if I can free it up that way first. I thought about hitting the valve with a mix of acetone and MMO on the stem through the spark plug, too. If that does not work, I may take a look at your method. Thanks a lot.

Chris

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Chris H

Bill,
Yes, I think it is the #3 exhaust valve. I am going to take another crack at it this weekend with MMO and see if I can free it up that way first. I thought about hitting the valve with a mix of acetone and MMO on the stem through the spark plug, too. If that does not work, I may take a look at your method. Thanks a lot.

Chris

Chris,
I REALLY trust this guy's expertice! Claude's our 85 year old "REAL GURU OF ALL MODEL A STUFF!" and not a B.S'r! I wish I knew 25% of what he knows! Bill W.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Try Sea-Foam, one can in the oil, and one can in the gas.

[broommaker]

I had a 35 ford with a valve sticking, remember my dad mixing marvels mystery oil and lacquer and with the engine reved up squrting it into the carb. worked, washed the varnish from the valve guides....

Jim

[Lycoming-8]

Back in the time when I used our business coupe as a daily driver, it developed a BAD case of sticking valves. At first we didn't know what was causing the problem, but after getting warm it would routinely loose so much power that it couldn't get up over the curb into the driveway. We changed most of the electricals item by item, opened up the valve chamber and checked for problems. Nothing seemed to help.

Finally the owner of a local antique car restoration shop, who had been helping to diagnose the problem, suggested I try something like Bardahl. Our local auto place didn't have that, but did have STP. So...... built a cardboard dam and gagged the poor old 'A' with about half of the can thru the carb, not real handy for an updraft carb!! When it finally died, I then poured the rest into the oilpan. The first trip around the block was not successful, but the second went quite a bit further and the third lasted about an hour. Back to daily college commute the next morning. The problem never surfaced again!!!

This was a long time ago, back in the early 60's, so more modern chemicals may work better.

[Gord. B by the bay]

I have used 1 litre of automatic tranny oil and leave in the oil until next oil change sure did a great job for my engine Gord. B by the Bay

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Gord. B by the bay

I have used 1 litre of automatic tranny oil and leave in the oil until next oil change sure did a great job for my engine Gord. B by the Bay

Yes, Gord, ATF is a great varnish remover, many times a quart with your motor oil will quiet gummed up ticking hydraulic valve lifters. Bill W.

[real550A]

Agreed Bill- We used to use ATF to soak "stuck" engines to free them up. That was before SeaFoam. Now, that's our "magic potion" of choice. I believe it works faster.

[James Rogers]

If you want to run ATF or other directly into the valves, remove the vacuum line and put a hose on it and drop the other end into the ATF. Manifold vacuum will pull the mix into the valve and cylinder without killing the engine.

[Chris H]

Thanks James. I did not think about inducing directly through the vacuum line. I may give that a go.

Chris

[J Franklin]

If you suck too much through the vacuum line just remember that liquid does not compress, so don't bend a rod

[Richard/Ca]

Memories of yesteryear. Sticky valves? Is Bardahl riding with you tonite. I put a little ATF in with my oil about every 3nd oil changes.